Monday, November 23, 2009

Nowhere to go but up

I did it!


I ruined the first pair of mittens!

And it took all afternoon on Sunday to do it. Fortunately, I'm pretty sure I still have enough fabric left on the back and other sleeve of this sweater to make a second, more presentable pair.

These ones will do fine for snow shoveling and, perhaps, snowman making, but they're not good enough to gift, for reasons that have nothing to do with my apparent lack of sewing finesse:

1/ the pattern calls for a single layer, which means you're touching the interior seams with your fingertips all the time and will freeze.

2/ an interior layer, with the right side touching your hands, solves both these problems.


3/ even if you cut both sets of mittens from two entirely different weights of fabric, they won't nest nicely if you cut them the same size.

4/ I'm not entirely sure that stitching ribbing onto a giant puffy two-layer mitten is the best way to get a finished look.

5/ plus, you get another annoying seam inside, rubbing against your wrist.


I think I'll ruin a second pair after adapting the pattern for a longer hand to replace the ribbing, and a slightly larger set of pieces for the outer layer. But I'm going to try not to wait until next Sunday afternoon to find time for this, because I am supposed to make 12 pairs in the next 5 weeks - plus shortbread.

Oh dear.

3 comments:

TexNan said...

They look gorgeous!

Is it possible to cut the pieces from the bottom of the sweater so the ribbing's already attached, then line them to the ribbing edge with a lightweight, non-felted wool? (Living in a warm climate, I may be missing something that'll have all you mitten-wearers rolling your eyes.)

Mary Keenan said...

You're missing nothing ;^) No, I could have done that with the ribbing, and I thought about it, but this particular ribbing had stretched out in the felting process so that it wouldn't have had enough grip.

I'm thinking about making the mitt longer and stitching on a button tab to cinch the wrist shut a bit for snow-keeping-outage, but maybe that won't work either... it will depend I think on the weight of the top layer.

I probably need more felted sweaters...

Sally Anne said...

Oh, but they look so good !!
The first of anything is always a bit of a trial, the next ones will be perfect I am certain.